When I arrived in Edinburgh on 11 January, I brought with me many questions. Not the least of these revolved around how I would as an urban studies student and visual artist engage with the urban environment effectively and critically. Is it possible to understand a city – how it operates on the ground, day-to-day – … More Edinburgh Illustrated
Sitting in the Willow Tea Room on Buchanan Street in Glasgow, a Charles Rennie Mackintosh design, my art history sensibilities were just going berserk. I am a huge fan of Mackintosh’s designs and his furniture and interior decorating for the tea rooms, with that iconic Glasgow essence he helped found, so being able to sit … More A Chat over Afternoon Tea
Glasgow and Edinburgh are Scotland’s largest cities, and, as such, it seems they are constantly being compared to one another. If one claims to have a truer Gaelic heritage, the other claims to have a more active modern Gaelic population. If one is known for its size and industriousness, the other’s claim to fame is its … More From the Hilltop: Glasgow and Edinburgh
Maps are a fascinating way to put visual explanation to vague placenames, directional references, and navigational descriptions in a way that is wonderfully simple and revealing. I have made posts about Google Maps and mind maps and this idea of creating through our actions maps throughout the city and spaces we traverse. However, as the … More What Does My (Fill-in-the-Blank) Look Like?
In UK universities like the University of Edinburgh, students get two weeks for Easter/Spring Break, a week (or so) of revision (i.e. no classes) and then there is an approximately month long period during which final exams take place. This is the time to review all the information covered over the course of the semester … More For Want of the Main Library…
When I decided to spend my second week of Easter Break exploring Wales, I was so excited that I jumped on Google Maps and started starring every place I could possibly want to go. I consulted a friend who had visited Cardiff and some surrounding areas, asked a half-Welsh friend of mine where I should … More Making a Path
Just because something is written or largely text-based does not mean it is not an illustration. My week in Wales, experiencing the sites and sounds of Cardiff as well as innumerable sheep pastures and walking from Knighton to Machynlleth, did not afford me much time to draw my surroundings, but it gave me plenty of … More Wales Illustrated
Sitting in this Park Sitting in this park Listening to the sounds of the city The rustle of leaves and coos of pigeons drowned out by the hollering hearts Standing on the paved ways in the way out of the way He plays his guitar, voice amplified baggy pants, small cap, bedraggled hair … More Sitting in This Park
What better way to spend your Friday night in Dublin, Ireland than to visit the famous Temple Bar? Of course, if you’re seeking great traditional Irish music, you’ll have to first weave your way through a raucous crowd of rugby fans and then make your way up a narrow staircase to the second floor, to Gogarty’s Bar … More Trad Music at Gogarty’s
The hills of Ireland are steeped in history, from prehistorical settlements and pagan kingdoms to the Celtic saints of the early centuries after Christ and the church as it grew in Ireland. As I travelled, encountering these fascinating spaces and exploring the intricacies of Celtic Christianity, it was interesting to also see how we as a … More On Fire and Steep(ed) in History
“…in making the city, man has remade himself.” – Robert Park, quoted by Harvey Probably one of my favorite urban theories is the idea of recreating the city by living in and engaging with it. David Harvey, a huge proponent and influential theorist of things like the right to the city and the recreation of the … More The Cartographic Imagination: Katie in Edinburgh
Private spaces are curious spaces because they can be simultaneously welcoming and exclusive, safe and disconcerting, open and closed, intimate and alienating. How we come to discover private spaces – beyond the comfort (or lack thereof) of our own flats – is an adventure, as it requires leaving the public sphere and entering into a new … More Intimate Spaces
Edinburgh Illustrated 